The Times of
Swaziland, the only independent daily newspaper in the kingdom ruled by
King Mswati III, sub-Saharan Africa’s last absolute monarch, reported
Magagula said the investigation would ascertain whether police had broken
any law.

The newspaper reported, ‘Since December [2013], police
have shot and killed six suspects in different incidents in the country. The
latest case is that of a passenger who was shot dead by a plain clothes police
officer in a bus which was from Siteki.

‘On December 12, police shot and killed two suspects in
the Built It heist which occurred last year. In January, the police shot and
killed one suspect in a dramatic car chase with theft suspects at Ngogola. Also
in the same month, two suspects, who were wanted for a string of robberies,
were shot and killed by the police.’

Observers of Swaziland have for a number of years
identified a shoot-to-kill policy by police and armed forces in the kingdom. In
the past the Swazi Police have claimed they have investigated killings, but no
officer has ever been prosecuted. No independent inquiry has ever been held
into police killings.

In 2010, following a spate of police shootings, the commission chair Rev. David
Matse of the Swaziland Human Rights and Public Administration Commission pleaded with the police
and army to ‘consider the law before shooting at suspects’.

He said even if a person is escaping from lawful custody, other means of
arresting that person can be attempted before the suspect’s life is considered
expendable.

‘When it has been necessary to take life, let there be proof that all other
remedies were exhausted and that there was no other alternative,’ he said.